The Lev Effect

The Lev Effect

T he Lev Effect is a sequel to a critically acclaimed novel, with universal values, Lost and Found, (Random House). The Bolton PA. Jewish Community converts a disused old people’s home into a boarding school and hires a Russian refugee to run it and the retirees to staff it. The old residents love the change, but things get dicey when the director admits a Palestinian boy, schedules Palestine National Day and a dinner fund raiser for a Catholic homeless shelter. The family that endowed the place 50 years ago sues to get their trust fund back. A teen age hacker manages to find alternative funding by manipulating resident’s pension accounts. An enemy on the faculty tries to get the director deported. When the director dies some people think that he was Jesus. The Lev Effect is full of warmth, humor and the celebration of the extraordinary in the ordinary which should appeal to the faithful of all religions and iconoclasts alike. . “The author’s artful brew of farcical comedy and theological provocation may remind readers of the work of Booker Prize–winning novelist Howard Jacobson. Overall, it’s a delightfully satirical exploration of the intersection between the quotidian and the absurd. Lev is a particularly memorable character; it turns out that when he said “superintendent,” he actually meant “janitor,” and he neither encourages nor repudiates the strange notion that his arrival is the fulfillment of biblical prophecy. Throughout, Greene wisely explores the salutary power of faith, which Mendel calls a “kind of spiritual walker for the psychologically disabled.” “A profoundly funny meditation on how one can find strength in religion”.Kirkus Review “This story had me tearing up in analysis then soaring in joy. There’s not a better time than now to encourage acceptance of differences and to search for and celebrate Goodness wherever it exists. Can we not use this tale as a guide at this time of year, to search out the best in everyone? This author’s style will sing to your soul. I strongly recommend you read this, absorbing its hauntingly beautiful melody in its message.” Book Review Crew In his warm-hearted novel Sheldon Greene touches on life’s deepest questions via a community of characters committed to a Jewish retirement home cum boarding school. Humor, clear plotting, fine character portrayals, and vivid—even poetic—descriptions of the sensory world carry the throb of life. After reading the book, I sat with the same thought one of the characters articulates: “Once again I saw the good and I was glad” Susan Phillips , Exec Director , New College, Graduate Theological Union, U.C. Berkeley